Sport utility vehicle | What is a Sport utility vehicle, Learn about the Sport utility vehicle

Learn about the Sport utility vehicle

The typical Sport utility vehicle is a two-box design. Unlike a pickup truck that has an open cargo box the Sport utility vehicle has an enclosed cargo passenger compartment. It has upright seating for five to seven passengers. It has an open interior with no trunk. It is often built on a pickup truck chassis for towing capacity, and usually has four wheel drive. Only about 15% of Sport utility vehicle owners ever go off road. According to Jeep Wrangler brand manager Kevin Metz, 60% of Jeep Wrangler owners go off road while around 80% of Rubicon owners do.

A similar class of vehicle is the crossover utility vehicle, but it is built on a car chassis. Often it uses a Uni-body chassis instead of the heavier body-on-frame design of Sport utility vehicles. Crossover vehicles often have all-wheel-drive instead of four-wheel drive. Crossovers are usually lighter than Sport utility vehicles and get better fuel mileage. In general, when referring to a Sport utility vehicle, many include crossovers. However it is incorrect to refer to an Sport utility vehicle on a truck frame as a crossover.

Sport utility vehicles come from designs that were originally military. Sport utility vehicles are descended from the World War II 1/4 ton reconnaissance vehicle, better known as the Jeep. The first Jeep was built by the American Bantam Car Company. Because Bantam was too small to manufacture all the vehicles needed for the army, Willys-Overland and Ford were given the army contracts. The Willys vehicle was designated Willys MB while the Ford vehicles were called Ford GPW. There was very little difference between the two and both were made from 1941 to 1945. They were the most widely produced military vehicle during World War II. American soldiers loved their Jeeps and many wanted to buy one when they returned home. Willys began producing a civilian model called the Jeep CJ immediately after the war. These were built from 1946 to 1986.

In 1948 British Rover Car Company Land Rover built its first vehicle for rural terrain based on a war surplus Jeep frame. It had an all aluminum body and could be repaired in the field. British police forces, the military and other services found them ideal for off-road and as estate vehicles. In 1970 the Range Rover line was launched and became the luxury Sport utility vehicles they are today.